The Truth beyond Truth
by jkls39
Summary: Arthuria was only fulfilling her father's dying wish but she needed more information in order to fully fulfill it until it came that she needed people whom she can trust and know whom she cannot trust. There is more than to the truth that meets the eye.
1. PROLOGUE

**A/N:** Heya, readers! It's me again! Well, some of you wouldn't recognize me because I have deleted the first AC fic that I have done. This one is actually my third attempt to edit this and I wanted to thank this one critic here in Fanfiction who have helped me so much in creating this story. I'm sure some of you knew The Fox Familiar. I don't know if she's a she but I guess I'll address 'her' as female (I looked into 'her' profile and there's no gender indicated so I don't know). If some of you know her, she's really quite harsh with her feedbacks but come on, we have to admit, writers, that we have to accept criticisms even harsh ones. That's part of improving oneself. Instead of being defensive about it, let's just accept it and together improve it. I actually did this fic with her help and I really appreciate her assistance. I really appreciate critics like her because it helps me improve a lot. While doing this fic, it made me realize once again that I have to be both realistic and idealistic in my story. I also tend to have a Mary-sue character without me noticing so I really, really appreciate The Fox Familiar for pointing that flaw of mine.

Anyways, I think I said too much already. I decided to publish this new revision. I hope that the next chapters would flow smoothly. I also hope that you also enjoy the story.

I do not own Assassin's Creed. Ubisoft owns Assassin's Creed. I only own my OCs and some parts of the story.

* * *

**The Truth beyond Truth**

PROLOGUE

*"When the hour came, Jesus took his place at table and the apostles with him. And he said to them, 'I will eager to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I tell you, I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

"Then they passed him a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, 'Take this and share it among yourselves: for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.' Jesus also took bread, and after giving thanks, he broke it and gave it to them saying, 'This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' And he did the same with the cup after eating, 'This cup is the new covenant, sealed in my blood which is poured out for you…'"

The blonde male coughed as he covered his mouth and drank some water. A 10-year old platinum blonde was sitting on the floor while listening intently to her father tell her a tale of the Last Supper, which happens to be her father's favorite and hers, too.

"I never get tired of that story," the girl commented.

Her father grinned as he closed and put the bible on the sidetable on his left and motioned her little girl to sit on his lap. She complied with it and cradled her like a baby.

"Indeed it is, is it not, Arthuria? Your mother loved that story, too," her father said as he caressed her daughter's hair.

Arthuria, which was the name given to her on the day she was born, looked at her father and began to ask a question, "Father, does the cup that Jesus used during the Last Supper still exists?"

Her father smiled broadly as he patted her head. "Yes, Arthuria, it still does exist. There were some rumors that the Templars have the cup and brought it to Jerusalem."

The 10-year old gasped in amazement. "The Holy Land!" She then stood up and clasped both of her hands. "Father, I want to go to the Holy Land!"

Her father just chuckled and coughed once again. His coughing continued as he wheezed.

"F-Father?!" Arthuria panicked.

The old male put up his hand and waved it. "I'm fine, Arthuria. Just a little cough. God is with me so I'll be fine." He then drank some water again.

Arthuria smiled as she helped her father up. "You should sleep now, Father. I'll sing my favorite Christian song to you so you could sleep!" She then grinned.

His father beamed. "Thank you, dearest. I would love for you to sing me something."

Arthuria escorted her father to his room and sang quietly the Christian song that her mother used to sing to her all the time. She then went to her own room. As she lay down on her bed, Arthuria could not stop pondering as to what would Jerusalem look like. She was very excited for in three days time she would go with her father to a pilgrim journey with a Templar knight, who would be journeying himself to the Holy city of Jerusalem.

As the days of the pilgrimage is near, Arthuria grew more and more worried with her father's illness. Two days ago, her father had a fever and no matter how much she tried to suppress it, the fever would not go down to its normal temperature. Every night, her father would cough with almost every minute. Arthuria had to move to his room just to watch over him. She hated to lose her father for he was the only family she had. Her mother died due to an illness, too. She would be alone for the rest of her life if her father would leave her, like her mother did. Every night, she would always pray to the Heavenly Father to heal her one and only parent.

On the day that Arthuria and her father would set out to Jerusalem, her father died. It must have been his time that was why God had to take him to Heaven. Instead of blaming Him, Arthuria thanked God for taking him to Heaven. She knew in her heart that her father was a good man. Additionally, his last words made her tensed. He said about finding the cup and keeping it safe, away from both assassins and the Templars. Arthuria could understand about finding the cup but she could not grasp about keeping it safe, away from the assassins and Templars.

Who are these assassins? And why does he not want to give it to the Templars if the Holy knights will protect the cup from harm? Does he mean that she should be the one keeping the cup safe? If the Templars do have the cup, she would have to steal it away from them? Does God even want that? Is it not stealing a sin?

… Questions started to flood Arthuria's mind. The fact that she was stressing herself over this was making her head hurt. It was too much to take, actually.

Then, a male voice called out. "Are you Tristram's child?"

The little girl shifted her tearful gaze to the male as she wiped salty waters from her eyes with a sniff.

"This is all too sudden. I could not believe that he would die just like this. Let me send him some prayers."

The male, in Arthuria's perspective, seemed to be a Templar knight. Obviously, this must be the pilgrim that her father was referring to for these past few days. He made a sign of the cross and quietly mumbled a prayer. After how many seconds, he made another sign of the cross. He turned his attention to Arthuria. Arthuria stared at the man nervously.

"Do you still want to go to Jerusalem? I cannot promise to protect you but under God's divine protection, surely, we will be safe. The road ahead will be arduous and perilous, young one." He kneeled using his one knee and put his hand to one of her shoulders. "If possible, I do not want to bring you with me."

Arthuria frowned and lowered her stare. She had nowhere to go anymore. Though she was already home but it felt like it was never home without both of her loving parents.

"There's…" Arthuria started, "Nothing I could go to anymore, dear sir… Mother is dead. Now, Father is dead. What more are left for me here?"

The Templar sighed as he stood up and held out his hand. "Then if that is your decision, come. We will traverse our way to Jerusalem together. God awaits for us."

Arthuria did not hesitate to accept his hand as both of them began their long journey to Jerusalem.

* * *

*Christian Community Bible, Luke 22: 14-20


	2. CHAPTER I

**A/N:** I do not own Assassin's Creed. Ubisoft owns Assassin's Creed. I only own my OCs and some parts of the story.

Hope you liked the story and if you do bash this story, please be logical enough. Thank you. :)

* * *

**The Truth beyond Truth**

CHAPTER I

THE ASSASSIN AND THE CHALICE

_Middle East, 1190, the time of the Third Crusade_

It was a hot morning in Damascus, the largest city in Syria. A certain teenaged platinum blonde-haired girl wearing a white hooded robe, a Christian cross necklace underneath, and a quiver of arrows then a bow at her back was walking in the busy streets of the city. Many merchants had set up their stalls along the streets as they encourage the people to buy their merchandise.

Five years ago, she and the Templar, whose name was Launcelot, reached their destination within four days. She could still fully remember how her eyes sparkled when she finally reached Jerusalem, always known as the Holy Land. It only took five days for them to stay as they moved on to another pilgrimage journey; to Acre their next destination was. Apparently, Acre was their last pilgrimage site and stayed within the said place for almost years. She treated Launcelot like an older brother. He taught her how to use the bow since Arthuria was quite petite to use a sword. On top of that, Arthuria did not like using swords so a bow was fine. Launcelot also taught her how to use a knife, at least, to protect her during close combat.

This year was the time of the Third Crusade. The battle for capturing the city of Jerusalem was being fought over. The Templar Order already reestablished Christian control over some of the regions and wanted to capture Jerusalem. Saladin was prepared for any forms of attacks from the Templars.

Even if Jerusalem became a Muslim territory, Christian pilgrimages were allowed.

This year, too, it had been three weeks ago when Arthuria overheard a group of old women in Acre talking about a priest whom was seen by a nun already dead inside the confession room with his throat slit. The nun shouted the word _assassin_. This was what intrigued Arthuria for she remembered her father's words before his death. She had shared this to Launcelot but all he gave her was a tensed atmosphere and an advice that she should not involve herself with those kinds of issues especially with these _assassins_. It made her more intrigued, seeing that Launcelot knew something but Arthuria decided that she would not get any information from him and instead asked some people around. It took her a week to gather some evidences about these _assassins_ and some people would glare at her. Piecing together the report, all she could get were the same ideas.

_"Those assassins are really nasty! You should be careful, lassie!"_

_"Don't ever dare anger an assassin. One wrong word and your throat would be slit."_

_"I really don't know what their deal is but I heard they're a bad group."_

_"They must be punished by God! They kill people for no reason!"_

Arthuria was actually clueless with what she had gathered. If they were a bad group, then why did her father mentioned about keeping away the cup even from the Templars? Are the Templars also a bad group?

The platinum blonde female just sighed on it. Now, she was in Damascus because Launcelot needed to be here. And, he also needed her help. For the time being, she was just doing some sightseeing of the place. Launcelot went to the far eastern side of the city for, according to him, most of the Templars were gathering there. He instructed her to meet up in the said place by the afternoon for her task.

Because of the heat of the sun, Arthuria just stood in a shade at the side, watching people come and go. She scanned the area using her eyes. Now that she thought of it, she had never seen an assassin. The very first time she had heard of them was through her dying father. Like Launcelot, her father definitely knew something but since she was still a little girl back then, of course, he would not tell his own daughter about assassins.

She just sighed. Not only she had to deal with these _assassins_, Arthuria also needed to find the cup. Or, for most people would call it, the Chalice or Holy Grail. In the past years, Arthuria asked for clues about the Chalice to Launcelot. Again, he gave her another tensed atmosphere in which it gave him a little annoyance. He advised her once again that she should not be asking questions about sensitive things such as the Chalice. Arthuria then zipped her mouth and never asked questions from Launcelot unless need be.

Still, she would not stop. She will find the cup for that was her father's wish. If what her father said was true about the Chalice being in the Templars' hands, then there was no mistaking that she maybe on the right track.

Then again, it would be too difficult getting any word about the Chalice from the Templars. Launcelot mentioned about _it_ being a sensitive topic so it must be _that_ important.

Where can she then find people who can give her a definite answer?

* * *

A white robed hooded man whose face was almost covered, with his sword at the side and other knives positioned on his waist was scanning the city of Damascus at the most top building of the city. He had a hidden blade in his ring finger. He positioned himself as he did a crouching position and leaped. He landed on a bunch of haystack. He got out without being noticed as he blended within the crowd.

"Come one, come all! Finest silks all the way from Cathay!"

"Hey, old man. I have a message for you. A cat's dream is filled with mice."

The merchant who was selling his imported silks scowled at the man as he excused himself and gestured the man in white robe to follow him inside the store.

"What do you think you were doing? Are you trying to expose something? And where is your respect, fool? You dare call me an old man?" the merchant scoffed. "Look at me. I almost have everything. You? You have nothing. Alright then, kill a man in front of the gate located at the far eastern part of this city. When you've proven enough, we shall talk. Good luck."

With that, the merchant walked out of his store. The man in white just smirked and exited as he fulfilled his task.

* * *

Arthuria observed the merchant and the man in white went inside the shop. At first, Arthuria was suspicious then again she just shrugged it off and went to the far eastern part of the city, where Launcelot awaits. Without her knowing, the white robed hooded man was on top of the roofs, jumping from one covering to the next, as the female continued to walk.

Arthuria was not part of the Templar Order. It happened that she was just helping Launcelot since he was the one who took care of her for five years. She was not allowed to join the Order because firstly, she is a female and secondly, she is too young to join. She would only become a burden. But, Launcelot needed her help from time to time so in some small ways, Arthuria was quite helpful.

When she reached the far eastern part, there was a gate. It was closed and wherever that leads, it must be another part of the city that perhaps only exclusive citizens may pass.

"Arthuria!" Launcelot called.

Arthuria greeted him with a smile. "What is it that you want me to do?" asked Arthuria.

"Ah! Right! Well, you see…"

Just then, a woman screamed. Both Arthuria and Launcelot looked at the woman as a man in white just killed an innocent man.

"Assassin!" a knight shouted.

Arthuria narrowed her brows in curiosity. 'That's an assassin?' she thought. 'Wait a minute… That's the man I saw talking to the merchant!'

The assassin fled as fast as he could as he climbed to a wall. The knights tried to follow him. As if by instinct, Arthuria trailed behind as well.

"Arthuria!" Launcelot yelled at her name.

She climbed onto the wall and stepped on the sand-made rooftop. The assassin was quite fast. She positioned her bow and arrow as she carefully aimed at the runaway assassin. When she thought she had him, Arthuria released the arrow as the pointed shaft went straight to the direction of the male assassin. Unluckily, the male did not get hit and put out a small dagger from his waist and threw it at the direction of the female. Unluckily, too, he was not able to hit the girl at either the head or throat but instead at her right shoulder. Arthuria fell down as she painfully gasped for air.

"Arthuria!" Launcelot once again called out as he approached closer to her. "Oh by the love of the Heavenly Father, you have been hit!"

Arthuria spoke while getting air in between her speech, "I'm fine, Launcelot. It's a good thing he didn't finish me off."

Launcelot helped her up as more knights assisted the female down the roof.

As Launcelot was trying to heal her, Arthuria could not anymore help but bring out the topic.

"Launcelot, that was an assassin, right?"

Launcelot paused for a moment then continued to heal her as he answered her, "Yes, that was an assassin. That is why you have to be careful, Arthuria. Your father would not want to see you die yet and God would not want that either." He carefully removed the knife at her shoulder as she winced in the little pain.

Arthuria kept on asking some more. "Why do they kill people?"

"Because that's what they do. They disrupt the society. They are our enemies. They are the society's enemies."

Arthuria bowed her head while Launcelot treated her wound. Are they really that bad? Perhaps, that may be just Launcelot's perspective. What if she asks that assassin directly? Of course, he would state that they were not as bad as the people think they are.

Arthuria could not just merely believe in words. Yes, she had seen what the assassin did but human beings cannot kill another one if there was no motive. Assassins cannot just simply kill people. They have to have a reason behind. And Arthuria will find the answer for it.

"All done. Arthuria, next time, let the Templars deal with the assassin. Do not let yourself get involve," Launcelot warned as he fixed the medical kit.

"Launcelot, one last thing," Arthuria queried as she stood.

"What is it this time?"

Arthuria turned her body to face him and scanned the area for anybody nearby. She then whispered, "The Chalice. Where is it exactly?"

Launcelot became anxious. There was short silence between the two. Arthuria started again.

"Launcelot, I know you know something. You have to tell me where it is."

"I thought we were done about this issue. Why are you asking this again? Now that I think about it, how did you know about the Chalice? I never told you about it ever." Launcelot started to scowl at her.

Arthuria remained silent. If she told him that it was her father who told her about it, what would Launcelot do to her? Of course, the Chalice was a Templars' business and it was definitely not her business. There was no escape for this one. Arthuria backed away a little.

Launcelot sighed. "Arthuria, you only need to tell me who told you. I will not hurt you."

"I know, Launcelot. But if you can't give me a straight answer as well, I'll just find it out somewhere else." And so, Arthuria ran to the direction where the assassin went. She climbed the wall again, this time, wincing a bit because of her wound.

"Arthuria, you are not going anywhere! Guards, don't just stand there and follow her!" Launcelot angrily gestured them to move quickly. He then ran his hand through his face annoyingly.

Lord Basilisk would not be happy about this…

Arthuria jumped down to what seemed to be a hidden and abandoned building. She hid behind the barrels and stayed quiet. Her breathing was a bit heavy as she inhaled and exhaled rapidly.

"Where is she?"

"Find her, fools! She has to be here somewhere!"

The faint of their footsteps were slowly dissipating as she released a sigh of relief. She got out of her hiding place when she heard another voices. She looked around. She failed to notice that the voices obviously came to the building.

… Wait a minute! There were people inside the building?! She thought it was abandoned! She quickly hid at the narrow space of the building at the left. She tried to peek as her eyes widened when she saw the white robed hooded assassin who tried to get away from the guards and the one who threw a knife at her exited the somehow run-down edifice.

'That's… an assassin…' she thought amazingly.

Finally, she had found one of the many questions in her head. Next attempt would be to ask the assassin himself. But, how? Is it even true that they actually kill instantly if one says something wrong? Arthuria possibly would not know unless she actually witnessed it. This is now or never…


End file.
